In May, Los Angeles had already started to warm up. A stretch Lincoln limousine was driving on the road and soon stopped at a parking lot next to a hotel.
"Phew, finally here." René adjusted his tie and opened the back door.
Lyman, Thomas, and George got out of the car one after another. They were about to attend the celebration party hosted by Paramount Pictures.
Although it was already evening, with the night lights on and darkness settling in, it was already past seven o'clock. But the interior of the hotel was still splendidly decorated. This was the beginning of the nightlife.
After presenting their invitations, the group followed the waiter and made their way to the main hall of the party. As soon as they entered, someone came up to greet them.
"Hey, everyone..."
A middle-aged man in his thirties warmly shook hands and greeted them.
Lyman had a faint impression of this person. He was an assistant to Tony Selock, the head of the distribution department at Paramount Pictures.
After exchanging a few pleasantries, the man led the way, guiding Lyman and his group towards the second floor. It was evident that he had been waiting for them there.
"Lyman, George, René..."
Along the way, various people greeted them, but in Lyman's eyes, apart from a few familiar faces who seemed to be employees from Paramount Pictures' related departments, most of them were complete strangers. He didn't understand why they were so friendly. However, Lyman knew how to be polite. Although he had such thoughts in his mind, he still smiled and nodded in acknowledgment.
"Congratulations, Director Lyman..." As they entered the party circle on the second floor, it seemed that the people here had higher status.
Apart from Tony Selock, whom Lyman was somewhat familiar with, there were also a large number of seemingly powerful individuals present. After all, birds of a feather flock together, and people with similar backgrounds tend to gather together. Being able to stand together with a high-ranking executive from a top distribution company, appearing friendly and at ease, their status and position must be quite respectable.
At their first meeting, Tony Selock warmly approached Lyman, who shook his extended hand and politely said, "Thank you, you can just call me Lyman."
Although Lyman understood that the other person's friendly attitude was entirely because "3 Idiots" had brought good value to Paramount Pictures, he still maintained a polite demeanor, saying, "Thank you very much for Paramount Pictures' support."
"Come, let's have a drink first, to fulfill what I said to you that day." Tony Selock took two glasses of champagne from a nearby waiter and handed one to Lyman.
"Cheers!" With a crisp clinking of glasses, they both finished their drinks.
Then, under Tony Selock's introduction, Lyman shook hands with several other high-level executives from Paramount who were present at the event. All these people treated them with smiles, and of course, Lyman did the same.
One round of socializing followed another, with black-clad waiters constantly shuttling through the crowd, continuously delivering champagne to the guests in need. After properly attending to the Paramount Pictures personnel, Lyman found an opportunity to slip away.
He walked to the balcony on the outskirts of the party hall, taking advantage of the place to catch his breath in secret.
This was actually a way to build relationships, a very formal party. Lyman knew that perhaps his consecutive successes had made Paramount Pictures somewhat interested in him. The frequent and superficial conversations just now also proved that Paramount Pictures wanted Lyman to join their ranks. No one would pass up a valuable director, especially in Hollywood, where it is even more common.
Unfortunately, Lyman didn't have that intention yet. He admitted that Paramount Pictures had stronger resources and distribution channels than EuropaCorp, and because of this, if he accepted Paramount's olive branch and joined their camp, it might not necessarily be better than being with EuropaCorp. Strength and strong channels were one thing, but the level of importance might not necessarily match.
From this perspective, EuropaCorp had an obvious advantage. They would attach more importance to Lyman's directing abilities and might even offer more beneficial conditions for his directing. Of course, this could be just his imagination. EuropaCorp might not have any such intentions at all. After all, all of this was based on Lyman's own understanding and conjecture.
So why not give it a try? If EuropaCorp didn't value him and wasn't willing to offer more, it wouldn't be too late for him to switch sides.
In all honesty, Lyman was quite willing to cooperate with EuropaCorp. After all, the French director Luc Besson, perhaps based on his own understanding as a director, was willing to give creators a great deal of freedom on set.
George, who was originally sent as a supervising staff, turned out to be very easy to work with and had been very helpful to Lyman. This was also a point that Lyman had carefully considered. Otherwise, he wouldn't have hesitated to refuse when Tony Selock first tried to win him over. He cared more about having creative control over the film than the strength of his collaborators.
"Congratulations, Director Lyman!"
It didn't take long before another person approached.
Lyman put on a smile and said politely, "Thank you."
The person in front of him introduced himself, "Allow me to formally introduce myself. I'm Kevin Huvane, a talent agent." As he spoke, he took out a business card from the inner pocket of his suit and handed it to Lyman.
Lyman took it and glanced down at the card in his hand. It was a slightly blue-tinted card with delicately designed patterns that could be felt with the fingertips. The elegant black font exuded a sense of charm. Lyman raised his head and gave the other person a meaningful look.
Although the introduction seemed simple, just a "talent agent" without any further elaboration, in fact, he was one of the top five executives of the Creative Artists Agency, an artist representation company with the abbreviation "CAA". It was not only the top agency in the industry but also had dominated Hollywood's economic business for over a decade, establishing absolute dominance.
But why did he approach Lyman?
"Mr. Kevin? Why?" Lyman raised an eyebrow as if he had no idea of the other person's intentions.
This question momentarily puzzled Kevin Huvane, but then he smiled and said, "Forgive me for asking, Mr. Lyman, but don't you have a talent agent?"
Of course not. CAA had already done their research, and they valued this emerging director. Moreover, with a little investigation, there was hardly anything they couldn't uncover.
Lyman had even handled his communication with Paramount Pictures personally. How could he have an agent?
"That's right, I don't have one," Lyman honestly replied.
"Well, would you consider CAA? We are very sincere." Kevin smiled.
"I will consider it." Seeing Lyman's open response and realizing that it wasn't appropriate to delve deeper into the matter at this party, Kevin tactfully excused himself. Of course, he didn't forget to discuss a time and place for a future meeting with Lyman. CAA was well-versed in such matters; it was their business.
After Kevin Huvane left, Lyman's gaze wandered, his mind deep in thought. At this moment, another person had been observing from afar. Seizing the opportunity, she immediately walked over and greeted, "Hello, M. Lyman."
The greeting brought Lyman's attention back. He turned his head and saw a beautiful girl standing in front of him. Her face was familiar, as Lyman had seen her many times in "The Dreamers".
As expected, she spoke again, mentioning a very familiar name, "My name is Eva Green, it's an honor to meet you." Eva Green looked at him, feeling somewhat nervous. She managed to enter this party with the help of her mentor at the New York University's School of Arts.
She had always been thinking about how to enter the entertainment industry, even though she came from an artistic family, she hadn't received any special opportunities because of it. Now, she was about to graduate, but she still didn't have any notable qualifications. The roles she got were either extras or minor characters with few lines.
By chance, she learned about Lyman and that he was also French, and moreover, he was a director with a track record of success. This gave her a glimpse of an opportunity, so she came.
"Are you French?" Lyman deliberately feigned surprise, pretending not to know.
Well, Eva Green had just greeted him in French.
"Yes, I was born in Paris, France, and currently studying at an art school in New York," Eva Green said happily. "I've watched your movies, and I really like them."
"Thank you."
The two of them chatted about various topics, with Eva Green mostly talking about everyday life in France and other interesting anecdotes. Lyman went along with it, matching the conversation topics.
He didn't know why she was trying to get close to him, but that didn't stop Lyman from pretending to have a special fondness for someone from the same country, giving her some extra familiarity.
As the party neared its end, René looked at Lyman, who seemed engrossed in conversation and said, "Alright, let's go first. No need to worry about that guy."
George nodded and followed along with Thomas, leaving together. This clumsy oaf had just wanted to go and inform Lyman that they were leaving. Wouldn't that ruin the atmosphere? So George decisively stopped Thomas from acting foolishly.
Lyman cooperated with Eva Green until the end of the party. They even walked together to the hotel parking lot. She hailed a taxi and said to the driver, "West Hollywood, the Fairfax district."
"Come to my place for a cup of coffee." She said that, and Lyman agreed.
Drink from a cask of fragrant wine, pluck a vine flower so fine.
Dancing, twirling among the grapevines, lost in a trance divine.
The hues of spring caress her fair skin, a blossoming charm so fine!
...